Warning to Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, Mazda and Nissan: Your corporate lives just became more difficult.

You already knew about momentum. Its J.D. Power quality scores. The Genesis becoming the first Korean car named North American Car of the Year. Then there's the jump from a 3.0 percent market share in 2008 to 4.2 in 2009, a dreadful year when most automakers were crying in their beer.

And now the Camry, Accord, Fusion, Malibu, Mazda6 and Altima have to contend with the new .

Let's be honest, with a few exceptions—mainly the pair of models—Hyundais have been a bit, well, dowdy. Visually there was nothing to hate, nothing to love.

This time around the Koreans turned the exterior design of the Sonata over to their California studio and let them have at it. The result easily raises the bar, with a commanding grille, sweeping beltline, coupe-like greenhouse, kick-up tail and a 0.28 coefficient of drag.

There was no backing off inside, with attractive, quick-to-read fluorescent gauges and controls that are as simple to learn as they are attractive. There's easily enough room for four 6-footers, though the sloping backlight means a bit of a head dip is needed to get in and out of the back seat. It's worth it to get that slick roofline.

Only a 4-cylinder is offered in the Sonata and that's all the 4-door sedan will ever have. Backing off from the V-6 saved 130 lb. across the board on Sonatas. Get used to this fewer-cylinder trend as we ramp up on the 2016 fuel mileage regulations. It's inevitable. Hyundai does come back with 198 bhp and 184 lb.-ft. of torque from 2.4 direct-injected liters. It also boasts class-leading fuel economy. The 5-speed manual version gets EPA fuel economy of 24 mpg city/35 mpg highway, the 6-speed auto matching the highway number but slipping to 22 mpg city.

Be not discouraged. This autumn there will be a 2.0-liter turbo option with 250-plus and a gas-electric hybrid Sonata.

Cars in this class all tend to run roughly 8.0-second 0 to 60 times,. and the Sonata's engine is about a noisy as all of them on the way up. Back off and it quickly upshifts to quiet down.

There's a MacPherson strut front suspension and a multilink rear, with a Sport option that ups spring and damper rates and includes a thicker anti-roll bar. It's no sports car, but the Sonata doesn't mind being hustled along and is well balanced, with a comfortable ride.

There are three levels: GLS, SE (the sport version) and Limited, with prices starting at $19,195 and topping out at $27,395. Sonatas, by the way, are built in Alabama, the U.S. content roughly 50 percent and rising.

Mind you, it's one thing for the Sonata to lead the field when several competitive models are getting long in the tooth. And it's yet another to stay up front when new , , et al are launched. Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevy, Mazda and Nissan, however, need to pay heed: Your new models had better be darn good.